Plastics industry sweeps the board at the Prix SVC Ostschweiz 2018
On March 8, the award ceremony for the Prix SVC Ostschweiz 2018 took place in St.Gallen. The first two places were taken by two companies from the plastics industry: Corvaglia Holding from Eschlikon was crowned the winner, followed by HB-Therm AG from St.Gallen. Both are now among the world leaders in their fields.
The tension among the approximately 1,000 guests in the Olma Hall was palpable as the representatives of the last two finalists stood on stage waiting for Andreas Gerber, President of the Swiss Venture Club (SVC), to open the envelope containing the name of the winner. Asked by moderator Marco Fritsche how he felt, Reto Zürcher, board member and CEO of HB-Therm, said: "It's wonderful that the first prize will certainly go to a company from the plastics industry." He had to admit defeat in the end to his fellow finalist Romeo Corvaglia, owner and CEO of the Corvaglia Group, which he stated with the words: "It does make you feel a little funny that it just wasn't enough for us, but congratulations to the winner."
Caps for global corporations
And this winner is Corvaglia Holding AG. The company, based in Eschlikon (Thurgau), supplies well-known multinationals with closure solutions for PET bottles. "From nothing, Romeo Corvaglia has built a company that has left our jury in awe. He and his team have succeeded in building a global company, with today 275 employees, 18 apprentices, with highly innovative products as well as production centers in Switzerland, the USA and Mexico," said jury president Professor Thomas Zellweger, Director of the Center for Family Business at the University of St.Gallen, in his laudation for the winner. The company covers the entire, fully integrated process chain, from closure design and development, mold making, closure production to application and technical support.
"Made in Eastern Switzerland"
The second-placed HB-Therm AG produces temperature control units for the injection molding process. The jury also considers this company to be a "hidden champion". The expert panel was particularly impressed by the "extremely committed team" and the "uncompromising focus on innovation and quality". It is particularly worth mentioning that the company produces exclusively at its site in St.Gallen and sees insourcing as a strategic cornerstone.
The third-place winner is Namics AG, also based in St.Gallen. Namics is one of the leading full-service digital agencies for e-commerce, websites & portals and digital communication. As a strategic partner in the digital transformation, the e-business specialist with around 500 employees offers strategic consulting, creative conception and technical implementation from a single source (see also our interview with CEO Bernd Schopp).
Evidence of the innovative strength of the Swiss economy
The other finalists and award winners of the evening are Büchi Labortechnik AG (Flawil), MS Direct Group AG (St.Gallen) and the timber construction company Uffer AG (Savognin). In a multi-stage process, the 13-member jury of experts nominated the six finalists from a list of around 150 companies. Companies from both Appenzell, Glarus, Graubünden, St.Gallen and Thurgau were available for selection.
All in all, the 2018 Prix SVC Ostschweiz awards once again showed that Swiss companies repeatedly manage to be among the world leaders in niches. All the companies honored in the various SVC regions are proof that Switzerland repeatedly occupies the top places in various innovation and competitiveness rankings, and not without good reason.
